Improvement in waxed-thread sewing-machines



H. P. ALDRICH. WAXED THREAD snwme MAGHI'NE.

No. 113,962. Patented Apr. 25, 1871.

m I 1 5E 771i; wl'farrbgx' that (dffim HOSEA P. ALDRICH, .015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 113,962, dated April 25, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN WAXED-THREAD SEWING-MACHINES.

2h: Schedule referred to these Letters Patent and making put of the same.

To all to whom these presents may come Be it known that I, Hosea P. ALDRICH, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Waxed-Thread Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawing, of which- Figures 1 and 2 denote side elevations of a waxthread sewing-machine as provided with my invention Figure 3 is a front end elevation; and 1 Figure 4 a top view thereof.

One part of my invention has reference to that class of machines for sewing leather with a waxed thread, which employs an awl or pinchcr and a hooked needle, the awl being arranged above the table and the needle below the saine, the material to be sewed being fed along by the awl.

The second part of my invention has reference and is adapted to any sewing-machine that uses a. waxed thread. 7

The object of my invention is to remedy certain defects incident to wax-thread sewing-machines as here-' tofore constructed.

One serious difliculty heretofore experienced in all waxedthread sewing-machines, using a hard-wax thread, has been that whenever it became necessary to stop themachine, whether for adjusting the work or otherwise, the wax upon that portion of the thread most remote from the wax-heating vreceptacle (such being that in immediate proximity to the hook of the needle) became so hardened as to seriously impede the operation of the needle when the work was next resumed, not only causing so great strain upon the needle as to'injnriously bend and often break it, but producing breakage of the thread. To prevent this evil is the purpose of my air-beating and forcing apparatus, to be hereinafter described.

Another difficulty incident to many waxed-thread sewing-machines, in which the material is fed along by the add or. piercer, is that the lever operating the awl or awl-carrier has been so constructed and arranged asto produce so great friction and wear on the working parts of such lever as to soon throw the awl out of its true working path. By my construction of the lever and its arrangement upon a rocker-shaft, as hereinafter specified, a natural easy motion is imparted to such lever, whereby the least possible amount of friction and wear is secured Another defect found in sundry waxed-thread sewing-machines as heretofore constructed, in which the awl is employed as the feeding power, is that the awl enters the leather in a slanting direction and not perpendicular thereto, the result being that the leather so punctured is not acted on evenly, and that the top of the leather, moving faster than the under portion, became often more or less puckered. This is com-' pletely obviated by my invention, in which the awl is so arranged that its vertical and lateral movements are perfectly perpendicular to each other, so that in puncturing the leather and feeding it along the awl acts uniformly on all parts of the leather.

In the said drawing- A denotes the frame of the machine;

B, the prcsser-foot; 7

Q, the table or rest on which the leather is supported while being sewed;

D is the thread-guide;

E. the awl or piercer;

F, the hooked needle; and

F, the main driving-shad of an ordinary waxthread sewing-machine.

G is a wax receptacle, through which the thread passes in its passage to the needle.

H is a pipe for conducting steam -to warm the presser-foot and the table, the same being fully described in Letters Patent as granted to myself and another on the 30th day of-May, 1865. As such constitutes no part of my presentinvention no further description thereof is herein necessary..

In order to obviate the cooling or hardening of the wax on the thread intervening between the eye or book of the needle and the wax receptacle, and thereby maintain it in its proper working consistency under all circumstances, I combine with the machine the followingdevice:

I is an air-forcing pump, which is attached to any suitable part of the machine.

This pump has a pipe J, leading from it, which cxtends along longitudinally of the machine, and has a series of coils, a a, &c., made in it, as shown in figs.

1 and 3, the said pipe terminating at its outer or lower end, near th working point of the awl and needle.

The pisto rod of the pump is attached to a rockerarm, S, of the mechanism for giving the vertical move ments to the awl, to be hereinafter described.

K is a'lamp, which is so disposed that its flame shall come in immediate contact with the coils of the pipe J, whereby the air passing through the same shall be heated, and by the action of the pump be forced out of the end of the tube upon the thread adjacent thereto, and thus preserve the wax upon the same in .a proper workipg condition. I would remark that I do not limit my invention to the employment of a lamp for heating the air in the pipe, as the same may be effected by a steam-pipe arranged in juxtaposition thereto.

The mechanism next to be described is that for operating the thread-guide and regulating its vibrations.

The said guide D is pivoted to the frame A, and has a horizontal rocker-arm, N, affixed to it near ts upper end.

This arm, by means of a pitmnn, N, is connected a to an adjustingarm orlink, O, which in turn is con- 7 arm, Q, affixed to its lower end, which carries a pin or stud, b, that works in a cam-groove, 0, formed in a sleeve, d, disposed on the main driving-shaft.

The arm or link O.has a slot made longitudinally in it, which enables the arm to be'moved so as to form a leverage of greater or lesser length, in accordance with the greater or lesser movement of the thread-guide that may be desired, the arm being afiixed to the shaft P and adjusted thereon by means of a set-screw, f.

The mechanism for giving the vertical movements to the awl will next be described.

It is an eccentric disposed upon the main drivingshat't, as seen in figs. 1 and 2, the upper end of the ,rod of such eccentric being pivoted to the rocker-arm to which the piston-rod of the pump is pivoted.

The said arin S is disposed upon one end of a long horizontal rocker-shaft, T, which is supported in bearings in the frame A, as seen in figs. 2 and 4.

This shaft carries on its opposite end a short rockerarm, U, to whose inner end the awl-carrier or arm V is pivoted.

The awl E, aflixed to a projection from the'arm V, extends through a block, W, and slides freely up and down within the same, being guided in its vertical movements thereby. By revolving the main drivingshaft the proper vertical movements of the awl will be produced bv means of the mechanism just described.

The next portion of my invention to be described is the mechanism for giving to the awl its horizontal reciprocations for feeding the material along while being sewed.

X. is a wheel afiixed upon the .main driving-shaft, the same having an eccentric groove cut in one face thereof, ingvhich a stud, 9, carried by a vibratory or rocker-arm, Y, pivotedto the frame, as seen in fig. 2, works.

Z is a pitman, one end of which is connected with the arm Y, while its other end is pivoted toa grooved arm, 7:, one end of which is pivoted to the frame A.

iis a sliding block or wedge which works in the groove t in the said arm, and is connected to another grooved or slotted arm, k, by means of a set-screw, l.

The said arm 7; is affixed to one end of a long hollow rocker-shaft or sleeve, m, and is made adjustable thereon by means of a set-screw,s, the said sleeve enveloping the rocker-shaft T, hereinbefore mentioned.

Q01. is an arm, which is aifixed to the opposite end of the said hollow shaft, the lower end of such arm being pivotedt-o a dovetailed slider, 0, which slides in a correspondingly-shaped chamber, 1), made in the frame A and in a plane parallel with the table 0. To the outer end of the slider 0 the head-block W, through which the shank of the awl slides, is afijxed. By this connection of the awl with thexslider 0 the awl receives its lateral reciprocations in accordance therewith.

The mechanism for regulating the horizontal movements of the awl or the length of the stitches consists of the said grooved arm h, the sliding wedged, the slotted arm lc,-and the set-screw I. To do this the wedge is to be moved in itsgroove either toward or away from the center of motion of the arm k, as -circumstances may require; the set-screw being fixed in its proper position, determines the degree of vibration of the hollow rocker-shaft '1 and the lever n, and, consequently, the movement of the slider'o, which moves the awl horizontally, and thereby regulates the length of the stitch.

Having described my invention,

What I claim is as follows:

1. The combination of an air-heating and forcing apparatus with a wax-thread sewing-machine, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The mechanism above described for operating the thread-guide, the same consisting of rocker-arm N, the pitman N, the arm 0, shaft P, arm Q, and cam an, the whole being arranged and actuated by the driving-shaft, as set forth.

3. The link 0, formed and applied to the shaft P to adjust the reciprocating movement of the threadguide.

4. The mechanism, as described, for giving to the effecting the horizontal movements thereof, as and for the purpose set forth.

HOSEA P. ALDRICH. Witnesses:

F. P. HALE, F. O. HALE. 

